Hot-water-circulating boiler.



W. KANE. HOT WATER GIRCULATING BOILER. APPLICATION FILED AUG. 17, 1912.

Patented J an. 20, 1914.

/ J wuewtoa l/vflmeoom MB WILLIAM KANE, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

HOT-WATER-GIRCULATING BOILER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed August 17, 1912.

Patented Jan. 20,1914.

Serial No. 715,529.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, \VILLIAM KANE, citizen of the United States, and resident of Philadelphia, county of Philadelphia, and State of Pennsylvania, have invented an Improvement in Hot-Tater Circi'llating Boilers, of which the following is a specification.

My invention has reference to hot water boilers and consists of certain improvements which are fully set forth in the following specification and shown in the accompanying drawings which form a part thereof.

I'Ieretofore it has been customary to provide a kitchen boiler simply as a storage tank with connections to the street water main and the house supply system, and also with a water back in the range or with some form of gas heater, which contrivances heat the water separately from the boiler and cause a circulation through pipes to and from the boiler. In this manner of supplying heat to the water in the boiler, it fre quently happens that where the heat against the water back or coils of the separate gas heater is intense, the water is not only heated to a suificiently high degree for the purposes of the boiler, but is converted into steam with the result that the circulation of the water is interfered with, and the presence of the steam provides a pressure, which aside from being dangerous frequently drives the water out of the boiler back into the street mains, thereby filling the boiler with steam. This greatly interferes with the supply of hot water through the house distributing system and aside from that, it provides a condition in the boiler which pro duces'rust, and in a short time so weakens the boiler that it is either dangerous or must be replaced because of leakiness. Furthermore, in the method above described, it is impossible to provide a large body of heated water in a short time.

The object of my invention is to overcome the objections inherent to these prior methods of providing hot water for household use by dispensing entirely with the use of independent storage boilers and heaters for the water, combined by connecting pipes, and providing in lieu thereof a concrete selfcontained hot water boiler in which all of the water of the boiler is simultaneously subjected to the heating medium under definite regulation and control.

More particularly, my object is to provide a boiler directly connected with the street main and house distributing system which shall be provided with a plurality of circulating coils or flues which together with the boiler, are subjected to the heat, saidflues providing separate circulating systems ap proximately from the bottom to the top of the boiler, so as to avoid all long and highly heated pipes in which slow circulation could possibly exist.

My invention consists of certain features of construction which are fully described hereinafter and more particularly defined in the claim.

The details of construction will be understood by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which the figure is a sectional elevation of a hot water boiler system embodying my improvements.

2 is an upright cylindrical boiler body having at the bottom a cold water supply pipe 3 and at the top the hot water discharge pipe 6 which leads to the house distributing system. This boiler body 2 is provided with a plurality of sets of coils 7 surrounding it, said coils preferably being of copper tubing and connected at one end with the boiler at 8, and at the other and upper end with the boiler at. 9. Each one of these coils will provide a circulating system of comparatively short length, so that the cooler water entering at 8 will become heated and be discharged into the body of the boiler at the point 9 prior to any possibility of it being converted into steam. It is immaterial to my invention broadly considered how these circulating tubes or portions 7 may be made, but I have found it most satisfactory to'form them of coils of copper pipe, having the ends connected with the boiler body by suitable commercial pipe fittings. In general practice, I employ a plurality of these heating circulating coils, and I prefer that thewhole height of the body 2 shall be surrounded with these coils, so that there are a plurality of.

circulating devices for the water onc above the other. Arranged concentrically about the body and its coils, is a jacket 10 which provides a vertical annular flue 11 in which the coils are arranged. This jacket 10 may.

be surrounded with a non-conducting jacket 12 of sheet metal and asbestos. At the top the jackets 10 and 12 may be surmounted by a dome or cap 13 of cast metal which fits around the discharge pipe 6 and over the boiler body and may be provided with an escape flue 14 for the products of combustion.

16 is a base or bed plate, and is provided with an upright standard 15 which directly supports the weight of the boiler body 2.

The cold water supply pipe 3 connecting with the bottom of the boiler body has its supply end connected with a pipe 4: leading from the street water main, the connection being made through a special valve motor 5, which performs the dual function of a check valve and also a motor for operating the gas supply valve which is to supply the gas as heating medium in accordance with the requirements of the boiler.

17 is the gas burner and is arranged below the boiler in its coils, so that the heat therefrom in ascending will pass over the said boiler and coils and upwardly through the annular flue 11. This burner may be of any suitable construction and is supplied with gas by the pipe 18 through the mixer valve 19, which furnishes the requisite quantity of air to provide a smokeless heating flame from the burner. This pipe 18 may be provided with a shut off valve 22. The pipe 18 at its lower end is connected to the discharge port of a gas valve 28, the inlet port of which connects with the gas supply pipe 20. The gas valve 28 is automatically operated by the water motor valve 5 in such a manner that if the pressure of water in the pipe 6 is relieved by the opening of the spigots on the house distributing system, the pressure of the water from the street main will, in forcing the water through the valve 5 into the boiler, open the gas valve and supply gas to the burner. When the pressure in the boiler accumulates by shutting off the flow of water therefrom, the valve 5 operates to close the gas valve and shut off the flow of gas. The supply of gas to the burner may, in this manner, be automatic and in accordance with the periods of discharge of the water from the boiler. A pilot light may be permitted to constantly burn, so that at all times there will be provision for ignition when the gas is turned on. This pilot light is indicated at 24 and may be provided with a shut ofi valve 25.

The controlling mechanism comprising the water motor valve 5 and its adjuncts, as well as the gas valve 28 and its adjuncts, may be connected and arranged in any suitable well known manner for automatically controlling the supplies of water and gas, and I have merely indicated these parts more or less diagrammatically since they constitute no part of my present invention. 7 The operation of the apparatus may be briefly described as follows :The boiler 2 and coils 7 being full of water the burner may be started either manually or automatically according to the manner in which it is connected, thus providing a large flame, which delivers its heat not only over the coils 7 but also about the cylindrical boiler body 2, thereby utilizing all of the heat upon the water stored in the boiler as Well as in the circulating coils. These circulating coils being of short length and oflering small resistance, will permit the water to circulate therethrough with great rapidity and this will take place independently at various points in the height of the boiler for quickly heating the entire body of water in the boiler. During this action the more highly heated water adjacent the bottom coils will ascend in the body of the boiler 2 and find its way out of the discharge pipe 6, so that the water passing out by the pipe 6 will be considerably hotter than the water which remains in the lower part ofthe boiler body 2, which is of course supplemented by the cold water from the supply 3. At no time can the apparatus operate to generate excessive temperature with the accumulations of steam within the boiler with its consequent objections and dangers. The operation of my improved apparatusis economical because it does not use any gas except in accordance with the specific requirements of heating, and further the heating is not only done upon the circulating coils, but is also done upon the boiler itself containing the main body of the water, so that much less gas is required for the production of the given amount of hot water.

In this application I do not make claim to the automatic regulator for controlling the heat commensurately with changes of pressure in the boiler, as that forms subject-matter of a divisional application.

While I prefer the construction shown, the details thereof may be modified without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

In a hot water circulating boiler, the combination of a jacket, with an upright boiler body or relatively large cubical capacity arranged within the jacket and providing a narrow annular flue between the jacket and body for the passage of hot products of combustion, said boiler body provided with a cold water inlet at the bottom and a hot water outlet opening from the water space at the upper end, and also having a plurality of independent heating circulating coils arranged at different elevations and separately coiled around the boiler body, said coils each of relatively small cubical capacity and arranged in the narrow annular flue between the boiler and acket and having their terminating ends respectively connected with the water space of the boiler at different elevations to provide a plurality of circulating coils, one above the other, for simultaneous operation With the water contents of the body, and substantially filling the narrow flue, and a burner for supplying heat to both 10 the boiler body and the plurality of water circulating coils Within the annular flue.

In testimony of which invention, I here- Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. G. 

